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By Ian AustenThe New York Times • Wednesday April 2, 2014 2:26 AM

OTTAWA, Ontario — Workers at three Toyota assembly plants in Ontario will vote next week on
whether to join Canada’s largest union, an effort that could create the carmaker’s only unionized
shop in the country and the United States.

The union, Unifor, said on Monday that it had applied to represent workers at the factories in
Woodstock and Cambridge, Ontario, after signing up “significantly more” than 40 percent of
employees. The province’s labor relations board is expected to conduct a certification vote early
next week.

The effort follows several failed attempts to organize workers at plants owned by automakers not
based in the United States. In February, workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn.,
voted against joining the United Auto Workers even though Volkswagen did not oppose the
unionization drive. Workers at a plant jointly owned by Toyota and General Motors in Fremont,
Calif., were members of the UAW until it closed in 2010.

“It’s tough times for unions,” said Charlotte Yates, a professor of labor studies at McMaster
University in Hamilton, Ontario. “This is coming in the aftermath of Volkswagen, where the UAW
really put in a lot of effort.”

Unifor is trying to capitalize on recent changes at the plant to rally workers. Jerry Dias, the
union’s president, cited Toyota’s switch to 10-hour shifts at the factories. He also said there was
concern about contract employees who work full-time schedules for years without the security and
benefits of regular workers. He estimated that about one-quarter of the workers at the plants were
contractors.

Dias did, however, acknowledge that wages were not a critical issue. Toyota and Honda plants in
Canada approximately match the company benefits at unionized auto factories.

“This isn’t about Toyota being a bad employer,” Dias said. “People are proud about working for
Toyota. But as people get older, things change. It’s not about money anymore; today, workplace
issues are really important.”

Toyota is resisting on a technical point, saying the union has underestimated the eligible
workforce and therefore does not reach the necessary threshold for a vote.

A previous effort by one of Unifor’s predecessor unions, the Canadian Auto Workers, failed over
a similar issue.